Dust in the Wind
by SwiggitySwooty
Summary: When the trio plus their self-appointed president Vanellope Von Schweetz find themselves relocated out of Litwak's Arcade, how will they handle the sudden changes? What will they think of the colorful new array of characters they meet on the way? How will they deal with the resurgence of an imposter with a faulty memory? (rated T for some language. Many OCs, potential pairings.)
1. Unplugged

The end of the line – they, here, in the few short moments they had left, found this to be their final destination. All the game jumping, the splitting up, the heart-shattering loss; it had all thoroughly exhausted the group beyond their means until they could find no longer the strength within themselves to lose yet another home. Sugar Rush's days were numbered, as it had come to be expected. Every racing game at Litwak's will have their day, but just as likely as this is, it is also just as likely – to the point of being inevitable – that the game will ultimately NOT remain the favored. This is especially so when newer and updated versions start to appear; every racing game has the same principles, so what are you losing when you move onto the next, more advanced one?

A lot more than you'd know, would argue the citizens of Sugar Rush. A lot more, indeed; Ralph and Felix had deigned to stay in the now almost bitterly-sweet Sugar Rush on the more than unfortunate unplugging of their own game. Litwak had been dealt a bad hand, he'd come to realize; the ever increasing readability of home consoles had begun to quickly render the arcade industry ever increasingly obsolete, and soon enough there wouldn't be a need for them. Upon realizing this, Litwak quickly decided he needed a backup plan, no matter how devastated he may be that his own business was becoming without a cause. He needed to conserve his money, he needed to conserve his money until he could afford to do something else; unplugging games – this could be the only way. Games that didn't attract a lot of traffic, or were overly expensive; those who cost more for upkeep than they did bring in revenue were now as of much use to him as arcades were to gamers. He'd come to accept this.

Fix-It Felix Jr. had been the first to go. It'd had it's heyday a few years back, in the curiously introduced patch that added Q*bert and friends, but those days had long since passed; predictability was the arch-nemesis to a game. No matter how much of a classic it may be, a dynamic so simple will eventually wear out its charm. Sure there were plenty of things that generally maintained the basic idea, i.e. Pokémon, Mario, Call of Duty… but the thing was, Fix-It Felix Jr. only comprised of a single level, during which the only aim of the player was to dodge Wreck-It Ralph's torrent of scattering bricks as he pounded the Niceland compound to rubble. Q*bert may have mixed it up, but the aim was no different. Kids these days wanted storylines in games; they wanted development. You couldn't really blame them for this, but it was sad nevertheless when beloved classics such as Fix-It Felix took their turn to bite the dust.

Ralph and Felix had managed to escape the immediate demise, but unlike the Nicelanders, they knew they had a place elsewhere, they knew they belonged to more than just Fix-It Felix Jr. anymore. The Niceland building though, was the citizen's home; it was all they knew. They'd have rather gone down with the game than live as immortals in Game Central Station knowing they could never go back. So, they did. Neither Ralph nor Felix could deny them this right, as much as they'd tried to convince them that there was a life beyond their cabinet. They'd decided to perish along with their game.

This was a sad day for both of the characters. The Nicelanders were their family, and despite how they may have treated Ralph in the beginning, it didn't help soften the blow by a bit. Litwak himself may as well have been gashed with the pain he felt at having to abandon one of his first games. It'd created so many memories here, being one of the most popular during it's day, and he couldn't think of one that wasn't fond to him, looking back on it all. Only once before had he been so upset about having to remove a game; Turbo Time had been adored just as Fix-It Felix Jr. and it's terrible malfunctioning, along with Roadblaster's, had been a shameful day… though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't more disappointed with Turbo Time's impending absence – it'd been the first game in his arcade, after all. He'd had it _before_ his arcade, even.

Then, next was Hero's Duty. It's expensive play fee in all actuality, had come to drive away more customers than it's advanced graphics could bring in. That accompanied with an expensive upkeep, this one was a shoe-in for the chopping block. It hadn't been a difficult decision for the soldiers; they wanted to remain behind; they wanted to stay. They wanted to keep their honor… for the most part. Some had gone out to make relationships of their own, outside of their cabinet, and deemed to stay behind with newly found loved-ones, which Tamora could more than understand, seeing as she was a part of this minority. Her men were brave and valiant though; if there was an afterlife for video game characters in the way that the humans believed in heaven in hell, she was sure which one they'd go to. It wasn't the latter, mind you, despite her often claims of such in the past that usually earned a round of hearty laughs from the men.

The trio had taken to staying in sugary sweet game after the aforementioned events. It wasn't as if they weren't over there just as often in any case, ever since Ralph's escapade to the cavity-inducing lands that few years ago, and it certainly had the room; staying hidden from the gamers would be a cinch! Sometimes, it was wondered why the game had so much extra space when such a small fraction of it was seen at any given time… however, it wasn't worth complaining over. Not only this, but the imposter king had left behind, in his death, the konami code to the mainframe vault. Vanellope, ever a curious one, had started toying around within the dark and roomy confines sometime in the beginnings of her self-proclaimed presidency (which was an oxymoron in and of itself). She became skilled with it very quickly, and when the time rolled around for the three now homeless characters to take their place in Sugar Rush, implementing their code into the base of the game was a piece of cake – they didn't want any accidents, after all. If they somehow bit the dust, and Vanellope _hadn't_ went through this procedure, then Ralph, and Felix, and Tamora would all be gone for good, and this certainly wasn't worth the risk when the answer was so simple!

As mentioned previously however, the end of Sugar Rush had been inevitable. Racing games come and go, and in all honesty, compared to other games of it's kind, Sugar Rush had lasted an impressive amount of time. There was not a doubt that this had been in thanks to Vanellope; after the gamers got to try out her persona on the track for both their and her first time, and upon seeing the glitch-teleport ability so prevalent in the little chibi, she'd became an instant favorite. Arguments even began to erupt over who would get to play the little candy-confetti haired girl as early as the very year she had been introduced. This may have not been such a good thing, but for the humans to dispute over who got a certain racer… well, you could imagine it was a very flattering compliment. However, this wouldn't last forever. Any racing game will wear itself out, and the citizens of Sugar Rush had been lucky to see it advance so far in it's popularity while it lasted. This and also the contributing factor of Litwak slowly losing business would be the swinging hammer that'd send them to their own oblivion in the end, and the trio – so tired of running to buy themselves another day – had decided to succumb to the fate. While Sugar Rush had not exactly had an influx of activity recently, it still was relatively popular amongst the games that remained; if Sugar Rush was getting unplugged, chances were the others weren't far behind. So they stayed; Ralph, Felix, Tamora, and Vanellope; all were doomed to an unimaginable fate, but there was some comfort to be found in the fact that they'd be together in their last moments.

They'd all clamored into the castle on that fateful day; the trio plus Vanellope, and all subjects and racers alike. If they were going out together, they were really going out _together_. They huddled closely like humans waiting for a bomb to strike while Litwak made his way to the power strip, that of which connected the cabinet to it's only life source. Some characters cried, while some only stared on. Some were treating it as if they'd all gathered for a goodbye party, and no one could say they were cross with those who did; a positive outlook in these times were admired.

"Do you think it'll hurt, Ralph?" The tiny raven-haired girl asked the gargantuan of a man, upon whose shoulder she was currently sat, with a seemingly blank glaze over her features. While she may have looked apathetic, and very well passive towards the event that was about to transpire (getting unplugged was accepted to be the end to a game characters life, and sooner or later, everyone's time rolled around, after all) her voice betrayed her stoic posturing. Ralph turned his head to look up into hazel eyes, which looked back down on him from their elevated height, and he suddenly found his voice caught in his throat at her ever so innocent, but evenly heart-shattering inquiry.

"I don't know, kid." He answered bluntly, turning back to stare off into the distance. He obviously hadn't ever gone through a permanent game over so he couldn't say. He considered for a second telling Vanellope that everything would be fine, that it would really be painless, and whatever waited for them on the other side of life – it couldn't possibly be anything negative… but the truth was, and would always be for those who carry on among the living, they could never know. They could never know what awaited them, but some weren't as lucky to know when their time came; some never got the chance to say their goodbyes to one another, or leave in their loved-ones embrace but this… this they got to do. They counted themselves among the lucky, for this fact. "Whatever happens though, we'll be together through it." He concluded, though his eyes never left their spot, glued to the pink walls that adorned the candied castle… and then, that was that. Shortly after, Litwak had pulled the plug from it's place on the power strip, and while this was sad for the arcade owner, it was fairly uneventful.

The story could not have been any more different within the cabinet itself.

Code erupted around them as structures were ripped apart, their very make-up being evaporated and sucked into a vortex of unknown origin. This was the end. Screams could be heard from all around as their world was encased in a rapidly approaching darkness that was left when the sky and earth were torn from existence. Everything was quickly becoming nothing, and the characters themselves only now felt something pulling at them; it was the same vortex that had stolen the sugary lands away from them, and now it was hell bent on devouring them as well in an unappeasable hunger… though there was no point in stopping it. Their decision was final at this point, and struggling was futile. They allowed themselves to be swept up into the riptide. The very cores of their codes were pulled apart in a single agonizing moment before all went black. No more pain, no more suffering. No more worrying about where they were to go should their game be unplugged, but no more life as well. It was very peaceful in a strange sort of way, however; like dreamless sleep. You couldn't have a care in the world if you tried. Time became irrelevant.

This was true, until in a moment as quick as their demise, the sweetened landscape began to repair itself again, wherein the characters suddenly found themselves conscious once more. It began with a soft glow of varying colors surrounding them everywhere they looked, and then grew into pixilated blocks reminiscent of what had been present before the localized Armageddon. These structures seemed to melt, edges turned into rolling features more akin to that of an HD game rather than their 8-bit counterparts. Strings of binary leaked out to flood the spaces between, and upon being linked back together, as destined to be, they flickered back into true earth, upon which the character's newly reforming-in-time-with-the-game feet could stand. Random bits of blocky code bulged and skittered across the walls occasionally as they continued to form, and when looking down, characters could see their hands waving in front of themselves. They were truly coming back to life; they hadn't been plunged into an eternal game over! They castle walls were immediately recognizable in their girlish glory when they'd finished rebuilding themselves, and the now completely reborn characters stood in full completion. They looked around surprisedly at the instantly familiar setting, more baffled by the fact that they were alive then where they physically _were_, so they'd at least retained their memories… unless this was a version of video game character heaven?

"Quarter alert. Please make your way to the starting line." A phantom woman's voice was heard all throughout the lands, instantly shattering the theory. The trio cast a quick glance at one another, before looking to Vanellope who, like a good portion of the other racers looked utterly disoriented at the fact they had to race shortly after just being resurrected. They looked to one another, as if mentally sizing up whether or not they really should go, or rather to see if anyone else was. They'd however, quickly snap back into the game mentality, and began off in a hurry towards the track, even as confused as they may be; they wouldn't want to be shut back down once they finally got turned back on, after all. "I guess I should go," Vanellope piped before scurrying off as well, waving a quick arm on her way out of the castle, candied citizens filing out shortly after. "I'll… see you later, I guess!" Then, that was it. They were left to themselves to consider what had just happened.

"…Jimminy Jamminy, I thought we were gonners!" Felix eventually spoke after a brief moment of silence, voicing everyone's (albeit, probably in more polite terms than the others may saw fit to use) thoughts on their own behalf. Ralph ran an oversized hand through his wild, chestnut hair, before breathing out a relieved huff of air in response to his brother's exclamation. "Well, we're not, thank user." He had been rather impartial towards his own death, but what he hadn't been able to stand was that Vanellope was to have either her life or her home stolen from her. Fortunately, it seemed now that the unplugging hadn't been the end to either, and the giant of a man couldn't have been more alleviated to know this. Though, he certainly wasn't the only one that felt so; Tamora, in a rare moment of letting emotion through (that wasn't anger or anything so adverse,) had deemed to sweep up her smaller husband into her arms, bringing him into a tight embrace. She'd lost a love once,… and as much as she tried to hide the fact, she was heart-broken to have to go through it again – even if she were to be joining him. The fact that such a sweet person would be left to such a fate, if it'd been as permanent as they'd believed, tore her heart out. She would prefer to fail herself to oblivion a hundred times over than for Felix to be gone from her life.

He wrapped his arms back around her, speaking a few soft reassurances. He'd been made aware of her fears for staying during the unplugging shortly before it'd actually happened, and he couldn't say he didn't share her concerns for her own well-being. He could definitely understand her feelings here. Ralph stayed silent for a moment or two, allowing the couple to have their moment before offering they go to the track since they really didn't have much else to do until the day was over for Sugar Rush. They'd go to Game Central Station later to figure out what happened – maybe Litwak had gotten a better financial plan, and had been able to plug some games back in? Maybe Fix-it Felix Jr. and Hero's duty were back too. They'd have to wait though; leaving games during arcade hours is severely frowned upon ever since Turbo sprung his scheme to take out Roadblasters. If you did, and the surge protector saw you meandering around the place,… well, you'd better have a pretty damn good excuse to be there.

The three made their way down to the race just in time to see Vanellope rocketing down the track, following shortly behind the tiny white-haired and hot-pink adorned chibi that was Taffyta Muttonfudge – the two girls had been at a constant rivalry during the days of the false king, but in recent years had come to grow close to one another. This didn't, however, completely delude the sense of competition between the two, as each were as eager to cross that finish line first; each saw the winner's cup whenever they closed their eyes. Vanellope glared ahead with a fierce determination as the finish line came rapidly into view. Her tongue protruded from her mouth as she concentrated on both propelling her car forward faster and faster, yet also focused on unleashing a signature move to her persona; blue rippled across her skin only a moment before the raven-haired girl disappeared from her spot in a flash of azure binary. She quickly, however, reimaged herself back onto the track a few short paces before Taffyta Muttonfudge; just enough to get in first.

This process repeated a few times. Occasionally another child would take first, but it wasn't without note that Vanellope would always be following shortly behind. The trio looked on at the race, trying to distract themselves from the fact they'd been sat way too close to the nutty candy citizens for their liking; the pounding and whistling in their ears from all the shouting told the few they'd probably need Felix to repair them by the end of it. "The players are really on a roll today." Ralph commented with a raised voice – with both the excited screaming around them and the revving of engines, it was unavoidable. It was true too; nearly no wrecks, and almost no running off the road. Even in the rainbow bridge part of the track, where it was notorious for it's narrow path and harrowing depths below to be a prevalent cause of doom for the racers (or more their competition, per se,) it was only very periodically that they _did_ fall off. "You said it, brother." Felix acknowledged to Ralph. He didn't very often get to come over to Sugar Rush before the unplugging, but of what he had seen, this was very good. Characters did worse controlling themselves on the track then the players did today… that or one skilled kid was hogging the cabinet.

After a while, the activity would eventually die, (from what they guessed to be closing hours for the arcade), and almost immediately after, Vanellope took to scampering back up to the three, her tiny little legs carrying her as fast as she could possibly force them to go. She'd just waken up from a sleep that lasted who knows how long, and she would have honestly preferred to spend time with them rather than go off and immediately race. It didn't matter how much she loved the sport, there was a time and place for it, and then wasn't it. Meanwhile, Ralph, plus Calhoun and the handyman had already been in the process of leaving their seats to go collect the mentioned girl; they needed to go to Game Central Station after all, and they didn't plan on leaving her out of the loop, being the princess —president. They needed to find out what was going on, why they'd been plugged back in (not that they were complaining, but rather they were curious) and also to explain to the other games, those who may have remained, that they were okay. What a discovery, too! Getting unplugged isn't a game over, you just get stored into the memory; you regenerate when you get plugged back in. This would change the way people looked at unplugging.

"We're going to Game Central Station, you wanna go?" Ralph inquired when he saw the raven-haired girl bounding up towards them, and eventually up onto his shoulder, using a thick arm as a springboard on her way. She often liked to make the joke that she was his parrot, and then took to mimicking the gargantuan in the same exact fashion she'd done the day they'd met. Ralph couldn't say he cared for it much more than he did that day, but now she was more than just any brat sitting around tormenting him. She was his brat sitting around tormenting him, and so it was rather endearing anymore than she was actually making fun of him. She tapped her icing-soled shoes lightly against his chest, and thrust an index forward towards the _other_ rainbow bridge; the one that led out of their game. "Andale, Vamanos! MUSH!" she commanded, to which Ralph responded by starting their trek up towards the exit, meanwhile he was only slightly miffed at being her personal packhorse. He could handle her rather insignificant weight, but he was uncertain of carrying her everywhere for the fact she might just forget how to walk.

The trio plus their self-appointed president stepped off of the coach leading from the sweet game that was Sugar Rush, and into the game Central Station… or perhaps, this was incorrect to say. The group looked around in bafflement, stepping through past the game's official confinements, where _usually_ Ralph would be halted for a "random" security check – even after the events with Sugar Rush, this unfortunate factor of his life hadn't lighten up any, sad to say for Ralph's limited after-hour time to spend with Vanellope… though they didn't particularly didn't last long, they were simply inconvenient. Not this time however, when Ralph would have been glad to see a familiar face. When they would have all preferred to have seen _any_ face, really; the station was completely desolate, not a living soul seemed to be present. The place was identical to the station though, save for the lack of other games to be found, so what exactly was going on? Maybe the other games hadn't gotten a chance to get plugged back in yet? That couldn't be though; why would the arcade reopen if there weren't any games besides Sugar Rush? It wasn't _that_ popular.

"There's another game," Tamora said, setting her gaze upon what seemed to be the only other plug within the station. "We'll ask them what's going on." She concluded, in the voice that commanded her authority not be questioned, setting forward towards the game with the men tagging shortly behind, Vanellope in-tow. No one dared to argue with the sergeant when she was in the kind of mood she was, and if they did, they were either very brave or very foolish – Felix had only done so once before. This had been the day they'd gone to go retrieve a rebellious Ralph from Sugar Rush after his little more than alarming game jump to Hero's Duty… ending,… humiliatingly with a hatchling cybug clung to his face and sending him rocketing out of the game. Calhoun had insisted she were to go face the threat alone, but the polite handyman wasn't going to have any of it – not when it was his duty to fix things that Ralph wrecked… albeit unintentionally in that case. This was not one of those times, however, it was noted as they stood staring into the cavernous length that was this unlabeled cord. Whereas Sugar Rush was printed quite clearly in the red and darker-red ticker quite prominently above the entrance, this particular game read nothing over it.

What could possibly wait for them on the other side?


	2. Eva Kendall

The four walked, minus Vanellope who had managed to scam a ride off Ralph, at an amble down the cord that plugged in whatever kind of game was connected to its other side. They had no kind of introduction to the world of which they were about to emerge into; it could be anything from Cooking Mama to something wild and dangerous, fit to reminisce one of Hero's Duty. None of the three adults could say the possibility wasn't a little foreboding for the latter case, what with their codes still bound to only Sugar Rush, though Vanellope herself was only mildly perturbed at them and this game being the only two left; with an overactive curiosity to easily combat the uneasiness, the thoughts didn't remain on her mind for much too long after they'd arrived in the first place. One could say, in a way, Vanellope had been accustomed to getting the short end of the stick for a good portion of her in-game time, so she'd learned how to take the good with the bad (no matter how few and far between those times may have been back in the day for the previous.) However, what did have the self-proclaimed president more annoyed than anything was the fact there was no train to take them to wherever they were going. That or somebody had forgotten to send it back—though who knows how long they'd been unplugged? If only this game had stayed, they wouldn't have a reason to send their train back, admittedly, so there wouldn't be a usual point to it… it was still fairly annoying for a certain impatient girl, though; what could she say? She was a racer! Intolerance for sluggishness was built into her code just as prominent as her ability to drive… although with a few pixels of light to finally break through the opposite side of the tunnel, they could finally tell they were at least making progress towards the end. This or they'd somehow managed to turn themselves around.

This was obviously not the case, they'd come to realize. Only once they were upon the source did they truly realize what it was; an entire wall made pure from light, though interestingly opaque. You couldn't see through it, but you could certainly put your hand through it as Vanellope, jumping down from her perch on a shoulder, had so boldly demonstrated before the giant named Ralph could stop her, and simply commenting that it 'felt funny' on withdrawal. Indeed, one could imagine it would; it was almost blindingly bright, but curiously enough, it didn't hurt to look at. Hints of blue edged around it's perimeter, and bits of code flecked off occasionally to gently float in the air around them like snowflakes before fading away into nothingness. A soft hum reverberated around them; no doubt from the energy being given off by this… portal? They'd never seen anything like it before, not even in Hero's Duty, the most technologically advanced of the three games. 'Whatever game this is, it's code must be massive…' Ralph thought to himself for a moment or two—it looked more like it was to keep in code rather than keep anything out, and even then judging by the rogue strains popping off it like fleas pop off an animal, it wasn't even fully successful at this.

"Well… we didn't come all the way up here just to stare. Let's keep going." He continued the thought a little more vocally, and, not giving them a moment's notice before, he stepped through the light with Vanellope quickly in-tow. The other two deemed to follow shortly after a quick second of consideration of the wall, and funny it did indeed feel when they did step through. It didn't hurt… it just felt kind of odd; like some of your pixels were being spaced out from one another, and left to float along your code as freely and gently as those random pixels coming off the light in the first place. The feeling repeated a few times over the course of the only a couple seconds it actually took them to go through the beam, and one couldn't say it was exactly unpleasant. Uncomfortable, maybe, but not wholly so; kind of a tranquil feeling, the trio could say, meanwhile Vanellope herself was reminded vaguely of her glitching. Then they were on the other side, which quickly proved more bewildering than the light itself had been; a grey sandy beach surrounded by a dull ocean that of which obviously held the same properties as the light; random flecks of pixels rose up from it, simultaneously while gentle waves rolled in and out along the shore, creating the rushing sound so characteristic of a vacation spot. The sky was as grayed as the sand, and the sun was hidden behind thick clouds, but they weren't the only thing to hang in the sky; towering, yet seemingly unimportant, rectangular shapes dotted the masqueraded heavens, floating languidly across it's span. Some were even in rotation, you'd notice if you cared enough to pay attention, but never did they seem to dip down towards the island, so they supposed it was safe. Portals similar to the one they'd just stepped through dotted the landscape, and for a moment they all wondered just what kind of game they were in. A distant orange glow lighting up somewhere down the length of the beach, and a round of hearty laughs coming from the general direction of mentioned glow told them where they could most likely get their answer, and so, they started after it.

After just a little bit of walking, they realized what the glow was; it was a fire. Not a kind you should be particularly worried about, nay, it was in a fire pit. What was more remarkable about it though were the kind of people hanging around it. Some were sitting facing the water, while some sat on a log just in front of the flame while talking contentedly amongst themselves; some were even dancing around it and both those sitting and up and moving seemed to be participated in a kind of what they had to guess was a camp-fire song. The area couldn't have been more depressed around the people, but they didn't seem to pay any mind whatsoever to it; they were in their own little world. Something was off though; these people looked just as mismatched as the four, there was no way they could have all been from the same game; There were at least a few men who all looked to be the same person, but just with different models; the copied figures all shared short black hair and a scar down their lip while sporting white hoodies and a simple pair of jeans. Only a couple had slight changes, and at most it involved a tattoo around the arm, or an undershirt, or a backpack. Sat beside them were two men, who either may or may not have been the same character as well; both adorned themselves with an embellished uniform, though where one's was pale and dressed with red silks and detailed with silver armor, one was dark, yet more of the armor seemed to be crafted from leather. Both, however, did share being armed to the teeth with a hood covering their eyes. They did seem to sport the same scars as the other three more modern looking men, so maybe these games really were tied together; this however, didn't explain the multitude of other characters surrounding them.

Sat across from the other five there was a young-looking man with bushy brown hair that stuck from the top of his head, which curiously as long as it was, didn't curl down at all. He was dressed in a dirtied blue t-shirt and khakis, with a gun holster on his side, and a machete about half the length of Ralph's arm on the other. A strange tattoo was curled around just one of his forearms, and he seemed to be talking to the man next to him. He looked as though he could fit in with the young man's game as well, interestingly enough, with no obvious similar factors between the two; he was darker skinned, but not too much so, with a deep scar running down the left side of his face and up into a shaved hairline that only instead harbored a Mohawk. There was a bit of shading around his mouth which was curled into a bright smile at whatever it had been that the paler man had said, and where the other wore blue, he wore red. Guns weren't missing from this man's sides either. It seemed that from whatever this game had been, most of it's citizens made up the majority of those dancing around the flame; tanned, dark-haired people, some even having a similar tattoo to the first. The girls wore tropical flowers in their hair and bright-summertime colored tops accompanied with shorts or jeans. They were a very lively looking bunch.

Sat near the water was an older man with some heavy dusting around his face, and multiple scars set in to accompany the rugged look. A cowboy hat sat atop his lanky and dark brown hair, though it wasn't out of place for the rest of his get-up; a bandolier hung on his shoulder along with a rifle though on his back. He wore a jean sweater over a light tan and sleeved shirt, and asset of cowboy boots encased his feet. Whatever he was from, it was certainly a kind of Western game, though no one seemed to be accompanying him, so they couldn't tell too much beyond this. While there were other characters to look over and think about, they wouldn't get the chance. While it may have seemed they'd been there for a while, in reality, they'd only been there for a few seconds, and they were bound to be noticed sometime. A girl who had taken to dancing with the others around the fire had set her gaze on them in the midst of a twirl, and halted to a quick stop, before bounding over, a wide and toothy smile quickly illuminating her face.

"New games? I didn't see any paths open up!" A long and single ebony braid bounced behind a tall girl (but let it not be said she was taller than Tamora) in time with her steps as she made her way up to them, while choppy bangs hung at the sides of her face, dipping only shortly below an angled jaw. Her lips were turned into a bright smile, but the teeth tucked away behind them were much more disconcerting than any smile could have ever countered; they were pointed… not filed, but pointed; more akin to an animal than anything, and overall, one could be reminded of the infamous Cheshire grin. Her eyes were a whole other thing as well; they completely lacked irises, and all that was left were ghostly white pupils that glowed like that of a cat's who sat in the dark, with a light shone just right. The surrounding sclera was just as darkened as her hair, and behind them, gave the impression of infinity, but one couldn't easily say the look wasn't unsettling. Besides this, however, she looked like a fairly normal girl; Tall, a bit on the thin side, but definitely not a weakling for sure. Despite her lack of girth, she seemed to be made more of tightly packed muscle than anything, which she wasn't afraid to show this off; she was dressed in a bedraggled what-used-to-probably-be-white tank top that was fitted quite tightly to her person, while a single dog tag dangled around her neck whose chain clinked lightly as she walked. Shorts hung loose on her hips, with frays on their ends and a bandolier for a belt, while another was slung around her shoulder, ending just on a hip. Knee-high combat boots wrapped her feet, just below a lengthy gun strapped to her thigh, likely for quick access. It seemed everyone here had guns.

"Hello, hello, my name is Eva Kendall; I'm the main character for Dust Bowl—it's really nice to see new games!" She chattered excitedly to them, taking their hands one by one to give them each heartfelt shake before resigning herself from their personal space.

"Uh, hi. I'm Ralph, Wreck-it Ralph, and this is Vanellope." He slightly lifted the shoulder on which the confetti-haired girl was sat to enunciate his introduction, to which Vanellope nodded in acknowledgement to the teenager and gave a smile in response, and Eva's – now closed—smile only seemed to get wider.

"And I'm Fix-it Felix, and this is my wife Tamora. It's nice to meet you too." Felix added in with a nice sincerity to his voice. Ever since Ralph's escapade, he'd been trying to be more accepting of those who looked different, or had different affiliations within their games; just because a character looked bad, or their role was to be bad, it doesn't mean they're bad people. Just look at Turbo; even if he did look like a little creep, there wasn't even a dynamic of good or bad within his game and he still turned out to be rotten! Even so, Eva looked down to the tiny handyman and had to stifle back a laugh at the thought that this woman was his wife. It wasn't everyday that a new game came in, and it certainly wasn't everyday that you found a woman with a partner half her size. 'But how do they…? Nevermind, I don't want to know.' She decided, just before mentioned woman stepped forward. "I'm Sgt. Calhoun of Hero's Duty. Wreck-it, and my husband are from Fix-it Felix Jr. and the girl is from Sugar Rush. Do any of those ring a bell?"

"Well,… I've heard of Hero's Duty…" she thought out loud to herself, meanwhile a few chuckles could be heard in the back, both from Vanellope who still thought the joke was funny, and secondly from Ralph, who was just amused that she still found it humorous over the years. The teenager paid them no mind though, as she went to conclude the thought but a little more decisively this time. "We don't have it here though."

Tamora seemed slightly disturbed at the fact but she pressed on; they needed to know what was going on here. What happened to get them plugged back in? What if no one else they knew were left? "Was it ever here before?"

"Pretty sure it wasn't." She said matter-of-factly, hands going to rest on her hips whilst she gave them an inquisitive once-over. "Dust Bowl was the first game on this system. You know—a Playstation. Playstation… Three, to be exact… Which reminds me, where are your paths? I don't see any new ones." She concluded, looking around the assortment of portals along island, not yet noticing the looks that had come over the four characters faces at this news that she had inadvertently gave them: They were in a Playstation—a home console. They weren't even AT Litwak's anymore, much less any arcade. The thought made their heads spin; they really weren't going to see anyone they knew again… in all reality, it made a lot of sense. They were only one of two plugs on a power strip; they were likely only played by one skilled player for however long they pleased, not many as they had preassumed. There wasn't an opening and closing time for them anymore, just any time their new owner deemed to play Sugar Rush. "Hey are you guys okay?" the girl piped up with a genuine concern, only now noticing just how flushed they looked.

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Well goodness me, aren't they going to be a little disoriented? Also, all characters besides Eva Kendall and a few others coming up do not belong to me, (i.e. Desmond 1, 2, and 3, Ezio 1 and 3, Jason Brody, Vaas Montenegro, and John Marston) all rights to their respective owners.

But yeah, this is kind of going to be a story within a story, with Eva's game plot a lot of it's integrity, so half will be an original idea. (which please don't steal, I've been working on it for like a year now).

Last but not least, I'd like to thank Marlex for my first review and follow on this story. J Any and all feedback is appreciated, and… well, it just makes my whole day. ^_^ (As every aspiring writer on here could probably agree).


	3. Bonfire

I forgot to mention in my last A/N, yes, the room that they're in right now is indeed inspired by the Black Room from Assassin's Creed; if anyone wants a visual for this, it's fairly easy to find. (AC (and it's later versions) were probably some of the first games I could ever get into the story line of, so they're a pretty big part of my gamer identity, and will likely show up frequently throughout the story. Whether they will or will not be a prominent part of it is yet to be determined).

Also, to address a couple of my more critical reviews; I appreciate you taking the time to help me out with my writing style – I wasn't lying when I said all reviews are welcomed. I can work to improve on the length of my paragraphs, but as this has been my writing style going on six years now (at the hands of competitive roleplay, where more is better), you can expect change won't come easily. In short; bear with me. (Look, I can't even write an A/N that doesn't come close to two hundred words.)

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"Yeah, we'll be fine. I think it's time we got back to our game though." Tamora was the first to break from the shock, speaking quickly. They needed to get back and figure out some things from here… but what was there to figure out? It all seemed pretty simple now, really; they'd been moved from Litwak's, they were, by all rights, a privately owned cabinet. It wasn't as if they could devise some kind of plan that would get them back to the arcade, rather they couldn't devise one that wouldn't most likely end with them unplugged forever, and rusting away in the garbage.

"But you only just got here," A warm smile returned to the teenager's face, amidst an obvious concerned confusion. "I'm sure the others would love to meet you, but if you have to, I understand." The expression softened once more to just a smile, turning her palms face-up, before dropping them back at her sides. "Have to get situated and all that, right? Yeah, it's not easy being a new game." She concluded dutifully, letting her eyes rest closed and giving a nod to signify that she was quite aware of how they were feeling at the moment, which she really quite wasn't. Didn't she hear what Tamora had said?

"No no, we got moved here. We're not Playstation games at all, we're with a cabinet called Sugar Rush." Felix started in, and on receiving an even more confused look at his use of the word cabinet than his wife had gotten on mentioning wanting to leave, he clarified, "Like… an arcade stand-up. We came from an arcade." He concluded, and finally it was this that seemed to make a hit with the dark-haired girl. The smile completely dropped from her face and her eyes went wide as her mouth formed into an understanding 'O'.

"Oh! Oh wow, you guys have really come a long way then, haven't you? Alright, yeah, you're free to go if you want." It certainly explained why she hadn't noticed any pathways opening up for not just mentioned Sugar Rush, but the other two that the taller blonde had just earlier; they were plugged into the power strip, not logged into the system's memory. She'd originally thought maybe they'd gotten installed while they were all recharging, but that proving to be false, and she was so well acquainted with everyone here! Turns out her observation skills weren't wholly lessening after all... "You can stay though. We're having a bonfire tonight—would be a good chance to meet some of the others." And this it would be, for there was not a seemingly sad soul amongst the boisterous group of people around the fire, who only some had even managed to tear their attention away from the flames warmth and the people twirling and turning around it, and look to the new arrivals with curiosity in their eyes. It wasn't very often they got new arrivals anymore.

"I'd like to stay." Declared Vanellope easily, wishing to avoid her presidential duty—'hehe' her thoughts interrupted for a moment,—of addressing the replugging, and the unfortunate circumstances that came with it. The racers would be okay to wait until tomorrow at most, but until then she was interested in learning more about the situation. They'd lost their old friends sure… this would take time to get over. This didn't, however, mean that they couldn't be happy here either, and if Vanellope could come back with any good news, then she'd take it. If not… well, she could always remain optimistic. There seemed to be a lot of games here if that kind of portal they'd gone through was what she meant by 'pathways'; there were a ton of them! Probably more than thirty! Not a single one was labeled though, no, not like Game Central Station. 'How do they even keep track of who's game is who's?' Most likely trial and error, the confetti-haired girl decided.

Meanwhile, Ralph inwardly groaned. When Vanellope made up her mind about something, she was going to do it, and there was very little you could do to stop her. This would all be fine and dandy, except it now meant that he was going to have to go along to keep an eye on her, and though he's made great strides in the past years, it by no means meant Ralph was a more social guy than he had been before Sugar Rush. He was somewhat curious however to see how the new games would react to him; he was hard pressed to tell which characters were protagonists or antagonists, so maybe the same rule would apply to him here,… though it was usually easy to tell who was the bad-guy in and from an 8-bit game. The game designers of the past really made no effort to hide who was the enemy… not that they usually had a reason to. Ralph could admit the games of his generation did lack a certain sense of direction. Sure, there was a little bit of plot to Fix It Felix Jr.; he was angry about his stump being moved, so he was determined to smash up the building put in it's place, and then Felix would come around to tidy up the mess. There was a storyline but if you finished the first level, you've seen one, you've seen 'em all. They have games now where you can spend forty hours playing a game and doing different things all the while.

He was ever so slightly envious of this.

"I assume that means you'll be staying then too, Ralph?" Felix questioned, though already knowing the answer. He himself wasn't exactly eager to leave yet though, but Vanellope might as well have been a lessened version of Tamora when it came to either of the girls setting their mind on something. If his wife wanted to leave, then they'd be leaving, but he _would_ like to take a look around; he hadn't seen a place like this before! It was so calm and peaceful, and everyone around the fire seemed to be having a good time.

"Yep, I guess so." The gargantuan answered simply, going ahead, or rather being dragged by an arm by the same bounding teenager that had greeted them earlier on back towards the fire to start introducing everyone to the newcomers (or at least half of them). Obviously she'd made the assumption that the other two were not going to be tagging along; that or they were right along behind her. It was hard to tell. Meanwhile, Felix looked up to his wife, "Are you sure you don't want to stay? She's right you know. If these are our new neighbors we might as well get to know them." The blonde looked down to her handyman, all but trying not to take note of the pleading look in his eyes, like a kid asking for permission to get into the cookie jar. Her husband had always been a fan of anything and everything high definition; she didn't have a doubt it was what attracted him to her in the first place. It was a given that he'd like to spend time here… He'd even tried to spend time in Hero's Duty despite her less than polite discouraging of such for the fear that it could end like it had before. Only then, it would have been real.

She breathed out a huff of air, knowing exactly what was going through the fixer's mind. "Alright, alright, we can stay…" She admitted, shifting gaze back to where Ralph and Vanellope had disappeared to, where now characters all around the fire and some who weren't were all eyeing the two while Eva seemed to be chatting on about something, but for the most part the characters kept their curious eyes on Ralph. Vanellope might be only a fraction of a human world girl's height her age, and candy-coated, but Ralph… They'd never seen anyone from an 8-bit game after all, and not nearly anyone so… stylized like one. He might've been a pretty odd sight for those who were more proportioned to that of a human – not quite unlike how Calhoun is, for example, but none of the looks were out of malice or fear of this person. Meanwhile, Felix found it refreshing in a way that new games wouldn't be so inherently frightened of the giant like some of those to arrive after the Sugar Rush incident had. Back at the arcade, it seemed to be an inevitable fate for the wrecker.

"Well you know what, maybe if you didn't lock Chris in a room with a dog he wouldn't have been so inclined to snap your sunglasses, hm?" It was quite evident the conversation had changed from introductions by the time they'd made their way over, Eva playfully chastising a seemingly very much older than herself man, and who may be the very one to rival Ralph's height as he was quite tall, evident even though he was sitting at the meantime, his trench coats coattails fallen around his sides. His blonde hair was slicked back against his head, and like Eva, his eyes seemed to glow, but unlike hers, his seemed to emanate their own light, and where Eva's whites were colored dark, his remained white and the irises beamed red. It was fairly obvious why he may like to have sunglasses. Felix could have made the assumption that he was a bad guy, but he would be challenged to identify hardly anyone amongst the group, and chances were they weren't ALL bad guys. He supposed it could make sense though… the bad guys at the arcade had meetings every here or there, maybe this was no different.

"Maybe if Chris had a sense of humor—"

"I don't think getting ripped apart by a mutant would constitute a whole lot of laughs from anyone, Wesker."

"I thought it was funny." He concluded the argument with the teen, smiling slightly to himself as he seemed to remember. Chris had been so angry when he regenerated; it had almost been worth getting his sunglasses snapped. Almost. He wouldn't be able to get them back until his game got put in again, and if things went for his game as they had been going for the past year… it might be a while. He didn't exactly fancy running around, scaring everyone with his unavoidably intimidating stare, which Chris happened to know this, so he'd known exactly how to get him back. Between that or ripping up his trench coat, but that would have required waiting on Chris's part, and he was much too furious for that.

"Well why don't you just try to die yourself then? They'll regenerate that way too, won't they?" A darker skinned woman had been sat next to him only now deciding to speak, her short brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and... surprise, surprise, a gun at her side. Though, both her and the blonde man's styling was fairly similar so it was probably safe to say they were from the same game. He gave her a quizzical glare.

"Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to die? You didn't even fight me for that ending round. You had to use a live-action scene." The two continued to bicker whilst Tamora leaned over to the just shorter than herself by a sliver teenager, with quite evidently, a question ready for her.

"I'm sorry, a what tore who apart?" She asked.

"A dog," She paused, her hands rising, preparing for maximum gesturing as she further elaborated. "Probably not the kind of dog you're thinking of though; the dogs from this game are nasty little things… nasty, as in, they're mutants who's head splits apart into one big mouth, and it's really kind of gross. They're the last way you'd want to go, basically." She'd had the personal displeasure of seeing one before during a visit to the world of Resident Evil Five, and having it bare it's entire glory at her in the meanwhile. Luckily Sheva had been along quick enough, lest she not even be here now. Their system was same in the way of that of an arcade that when you die outside of your own game you fail to come back. You can still exist if it happens in the mid plane, but you can't enter any games afterwards, so it was a kind of pathetic existence in any way.

"You're from that game?" Felix continued the questions, having found themselves sat around the fire as well, Vanellope joining the song that had only stopped momentarily for the introducing before getting back on track. It wouldn't be totally wrong for someone to assume Eva belonged to Resident evil; she was part of a game with… similar enough traits. She also looked like she could play the part judging by the other two were still bickering about who's side was more powerful, even though a campfire song was returning in full swing around them.

"No, they're from Resident Evil. It's good from what I can tell, buuuut…" She trailed off for a second, before putting a hand to the side of her mouth motioning that only they should probably hear what was about to be said, as she leaned in, "You want a Real survival horror, my game's the way to go." She nodded again, flashing a deviously toothy smile to the four. Whether or not she really thought her game was so much better than the other or not, was somewhat hard to determine, but Calhoun chuckled at the confidence, assuming it to be mock.

"So, survival horror, huh? Mine was an FPS." She started, suddenly a whole lot more interested in the teenager than she had previously been. She knew she was a fighter of some kind judging by the shot-gun strapped to her thigh, but that could have been for anything else, could've been for decoration for all she knew… would have been odd, in the latter case, but some game elements just didn't make sense. She was curious too; they didn't have a whole lot of survival horror games back at the arcade, much less horror at all. Survival… of course, but horror? No, not particularly. Had there been one? There were other shooters besides Hero's Duty, but nothing slasher or with excessive amounts of blood she thinks… Litwak's was a family place after all, anything excessively violent wouldn't have made it through the doors, much less as a successful game in the arcade. Likely not, that is.

Eva was about to say something when a giant outline of light opened up in the sky, quickly unfolding into a size that well matched the main screen from Sugar Rush, the one to watch the race through only twice as wide, and suddenly everyone was paying very close attention to it, those dancing around the fire coming to a screeching halt, and the song they'd been singing just as frozen as they, as they all watched. Suddenly a title and loading page opened on the left half of the screen with the words 'Dust Bowl' written very clearly across it, to which Eva responded by getting to her feet, all eyes either turning to her or all other persons returning to their previous activities. Clearly it wasn't meant for them, after all. This must be how they tell who's game is going up next.

"Well, looks like you're going to get an example."

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Well, say what you will, I think this was a nice improvement so far, even if the lack of detail almost made me keel over. Also, yes, things are going to start speeding up soon enough—I still have a lot of things that need to be established first, but after that we can really get moving.

(Also, as for Eva thinking her game is better… this doesn't mean I think my game idea is any better than resident evil five; in fact I really loved it. One of the first Resident Evil games I could play, including one of the ones I couldn't being Director's Cut. It still kind of freaks me out, even if the voice acting and graphics are both so hysterically bad. Look up a let's play and watch like five minutes in, you'll see what I mean.)


	4. Dust Bowl

Hey guys! Wow, I really had fun with this chapter! (You can probably tell by how quick the update was, eh? No waiting like… a week or two? Yeah) Also the length! Look at this thing! It's like four thousand words! Beware however, this is kind of the chapter that made me consider putting horror as a category (not exactly gory, just… yeah you'll see).

I tried my best to put it into a game format too, so you could understand it from the four's perspective, and the player's too rather than Eva's Soooo! I hope you enjoy! :) (Also, this chapter does contain drug use, but not heftily so. Either way, I don't endorse it, but it fits. You'll see.)

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"Not sure it's appropriate for children though." She warned before continuing quickly, obviously in a hurry to get to her game, but at least polite enough to deter Vanellope from being scarred for the rest of her time. If only she'd known Vanellope watched half her world get devoured by cybugs and almost her best friend being boiled in soda hot enough to be the equivalent of lava. She turned halfway back to them as she began in the presumed direction of her own game's pathway. "Stay if you want or not, lots don't for the whole thing anyways. Really, we just watch whenever we get bored." She concluded before bouncing off towards a towering pillar of light, disappearing into it in a flash, like a moth might to a bug zapper. The five-now-made-four were silent again for a moment or two before Felix spoke up, sounding only a tad disappointed.

"Should we maybe take Vanellope back to Sugar Rush then?" He wasn't sure he himself was keen on watching whatever could rival, or in Eva's words, be "better than" a mutated dog that could split it's head into one giant mouth (and he assumed among other things), much less was he comfortable with letting Vanellope either. Even if it meant leaving… here, because he had yet to know what this place they were was called. He didn't think though if any of these games got called back to go up on the big screen he'd be too ready to stay either, judging by all the combatant looking figures about. Even if they all seemed like perfectly decent people so far, except for maybe Wesker, who had a sense of prank humor that could be a little too close to Turbo's, back in the day, for his liking.

"Pfft, why, are you scared?" Vanellope teased the handyman, laughing lightly. She didn't think he was particularly though, she knew he just didn't have much of a stomach for those types of things. Felix may be a goody two-shoes, sure, but it didn't make him a coward; he'd stayed during the cybug siege after all, and not just on the sidelines either but in the thick of it, with only a hammer that's purpose was to fix things much unlike the wrecker's fists, who was admittedly much more well suited to be fighting off monstrosities that towered over mentioned Ralph. "I want to see." Vanellope ended her teasing-now-turned-argument with, and there was no way Tamora was going to miss out on any type of action of this caliber. If Vanellope was going to stay, Ralph certainly would, and Felix didn't much want to go back to Sugar Rush by himself so he simply sighed and turned his attention to the screen like many others had already.

The game had finished loading, presenting a new title screen along with it. People walked on sidewalks, talking to either one another or on their phones with cars revving by, or either rudely honking another along. It was a bustling city, and only a few words were written across the screen and across the passerby who didn't seem to notice them. 'DUST BOWL' plain and clear across the top, whereas the typical options were underneath; continue was highlighted but then highlighted became the new game button. Turns out they'd be getting the story from the exact beginning… some characters took this moment to leave, probably having seen it well before. Some players were notorious for starting new games left and right, but it didn't stop a majority from staying.

The words faded from the screen but the picture stayed. A few eerie stray notes of music played faintly in the background as the camera began to pan out from the city, the people becoming smaller and smaller, as what were obviously news reports began overlapping one another, yet all were of the same subject;

_"New strain of rabies spotted in China—"_

_"Virus found to be widely resistant to treatment, death tolls continue to rise—"_

_"Immeasurable losses have sparked riots throughout the country and mass looting in what can only be assumed a preparation for a mass exodus. Chinese military being deployed to the site—"_

The stray notes that had been slowly growing since the beginning had become a steady resonation of an electric guitar with an orchestral number coming forth in the back, the bad news only continued.

_"Virus continues to spread as infected citizens make it passed borders, despite efforts to contain—"_

_"New rabies strain reported in the United States. Incubation time as prior to the original has been cut nearly in half. Doctors around the world are working all hours to create a preventative—"_

The screen continued to back away from the city as if whoever behind it was attempting to recede themselves from the possibility of infection as well, as the streets became noticeably thinner and the sidewalks became less and less occupant with those on their daily commute. You could see windows starting to be boarded as time seemed to fly by now and less and less people were seen on the streets until there, eventually, were no more. The reports continued only more hastily interrupting one another until they became unintelligible in their hurry to speak over one another, and even the music was drowned out. Coughs that could only be assumed be the sufferers of the virus were heard over one of the more prominent channels whereas others turned to screams of the enraged. It was at this moment that time slowed again, and all sound halted to a stop, and vehicles began towards the city. A lot of them.

_"U.S. military being sent in with a new plan for the survivors thus far. Those most westward with the time to prepare have prevented the mass loss as seen in the eastern coast and other countries… we can only hope it works."_

People began to emerge their homes, and onto the vehicles that the military personnel had come in on, the survivors were split up into two groups, and sent back off screen to an unknown destination. The other half stayed, for an untold reason thus far, but that of which had quickly became apparent as time sped back up and patched metal walls began to slowly erect around the cities parameter. A stray hobbling figure came onto the screen only to be quite evidently shot as they fell, a red pool around their person always quick to follow.

_"Underground tunnels built specifically for emergencies on this magnitude have finally become of use. Half of the survivors population will be held in these systems until further construction work is complete in the following states—"_

The progress continued on at a steady but fruitful pace. Soon not even the tallest of the infected could come clamoring over the walls in any given point in the construct. This however, didn't deter the soldiers who kept on their work, making it quite effectively taller and hopefully sturdier than anything that could be thrown at it, be it infected or healthy. Much time passed and soon enough it was made clear that the government of the United States had themselves defected into the underground system, faith lost in the program that still so many were invested. They had been forsaken.

_"United States government to continue in underground system, those not already part of it will have to remain above ground until it is deemed safe to leave again, it is too much of a risk—"_

It took only a month to realize this was the worst mistake they could have made. The camera continued to pan as the walls grew further, even without the help of the United States. The city of Ostham became The People's Union of America, shortly enough but the bad news still went on.

_"Underground reactors melted this evening, leaving it and the surrounding areas irreparably irradiated, including the tunnel system—"_

As for those who had joined the tunnels, The Howling Plague, as the virus had become to be known by as for the screams from it's victims, only reacted more violently at the hands of the radiation. Carriers of the disease, for the west hadn't been completely untouched, were the first to go; it had evolved above and beyond the borders that kept it harmless to it's host, and consumed them. They'd devolved into madness at record timing, but worst of all; their forms changed. Stretched, tore, they become other things completely. Whatever it was they were, it wasn't human; the radiation had enacted something in the new strain that made them horribly deformed, but deadly. The goal of the newly added weapons, such as teeth more akin to something out of a Tim Burton story, or claws that could rival Wolverine, may have been to spread their disease further, however many of them were too over-zealous in their hunt and ended up killing their quarry more often than not. The people hadn't much time to escape, but some had managed, preferring to face the wilderness rather than being mashed apart in a maw that may well have been full of razors.

It wasn't without a great relief in this case that some had actually stayed behind in the city they'd built, managing upkeep and keeping the infected-now-turned-mutants out right along with it, that even now some spilled into the desert that surrounded them all. Not everyone managed to make it in however; those who were left, the now People's Union started to turn away those who they believe had abandoned them. Only a choice few would make it into their parameters, most being women and children, at that, while a majority of the men were turned away into the desert to fend for themselves. Anyone who they believed was a carrier was to be shot on sight… except for one.

"She's stable, she's stable—get your hands off of her, the shot worked!" An obviously masculine voice said in frenzy at those who had their hands out trying to remove a little girl, who was clearly a younger form of Eva Kendall, from what was to be assumed her father's arms. She looked like the spitting image of her current self, save for her hair was down, and much shorter at that, and her face was much chubbier than now. Her eyes were drastically different, instead of being a deep white, it was only a clouding at the surface that was seen instead, akin to that of a blind person.

"It's just the radiation, the shot worked for her." The father said, obviously knowing what it was they were looking at. In the days before they joined the tunnel system, she had been bitten. Though, the virus hadn't been resistant to treatment, nay, it had actually worked. They couldn't believe their luck when it had been a full week after the vaccination and his and his wife's daughter was her same boisterous self, just added a bite mark on her arm. The numbers for those who survived after the initial bite were incredibly low, but the hope that a loved one is that one is everyone's downfall, putting them more at risk to be bitten. Eva's parents had known this, but it was for the most part, unimportant to them… and they were rewarded for their patience. Their little girl was going to live.

Or so it had seemed. They now found themselves trying to desperately convince these people that she was okay. The harmful part of the virus had been killed inside of her, but the mutating agent hadn't itself deemed to leave, it quickly became apparent, and had reacted with the radiation, ever so slightly in comparison to the monstrosities they'd escaped in the tunnels.

"We have her medical papers!" A much more feminine voice said, while cluttering of a purse was heard in the background, as if she were looking exactly for this. "See? Successful."

There was a silence for a moment, as the military personnel looked over the papers. They clearly weren't forged, but if the reports were true about the virus overtaking it's carriers, could it overtake a survivor or did she have an immunity? They considered it for a moment or two, taking a quick glance at one another before one nodded and opened his mouth to speak.

"We'll accept the woman and the girl." He said. "Take your time now to say goodbye."

The screen faded into black, and the music burst back full force, and the only words that read on the page said 'Fourteen Years Later,' and soon the music itself began to fade from existence, the words following. They were left with a simple black screen. Then it flashed to what was clearly an older styled phone sitting on a table, buzzing and trying obviously to get their owner's attention with a Caller ID that read 'Angel'. Only moments later did a text come through, going ahead and displaying itself across the screen, it's recipient obviously not satisfied with receiving the answering machine.

"Eva! Eva, you're late for your shift again, get your ass down here or Cadogan's gonna send you packing! Where are you?!" He wasn't getting an answer, and soon the camera began to pan back from the device as it had done to the city before, and out through it came another text along with an angry buzz like even the phone itself was upset for being neglected.

"EVA!" the message said from the recipient 'Angel', and suddenly a hand came from off screen, grabbing the phone up from it's place on a cheap and plastic table, to which the camera responded by focusing on who it was that had. Eva was laid out quite lazily on a ripped up fabric couch where threads were sticking out, and holes could be seen, looking over the message and rubbing her obviously tired eyes. She removed her hand from her face and flopped it back onto the couch, seeing that she was indeed late again, judging by the time displayed on the ancient device. She cursed to herself, going to sit up on the lumpy piece of furniture and opening a reply box she typed. 'Yeah yeah, calm down. I'm on my way." And with this, the phone was stuffed into a pocket, where she could effectively ignore it. She rubbed her face again, and once more music began to play, only this time the sound of a grungy guitar played, quickly followed by a beat.

It cut to what was obviously Eva getting ready for her day of work, at wherever exactly it was she _did_ work, even if obviously late, and obviously not the first time she'd done so, judging by Angel's texts. She threw on a cut off wifebeater for a top, and didn't bother changing her shorts, as there were apparently none left. She blew out a quick huff of air from her nose, mumbling something under her breath about having to do laundry, but didn't seem overly upset by it. She continued on to whatever next thing she had to do for that day.

_"In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey  
Butane in my veins so I'm out to cut the junkie  
With the plastic eyeballs, spray paint the vegetables  
Dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose  
Kill the headlights and put it in neutral  
Stock car flamin' with a loser and the cruise control"_

The music went on as Eva continued her early day chores, or by the looks of things, simply taking care of herself for that morning. It made sense at least, had to get to work… but her leisurely pace in doing these things said she was hardly concerned either way, that work ethic wasn't exactly a prominent part of her personality… or maybe much anything, at that. Next it flashed to her wrestling open a can of beans, only to sit on the counter and eat them on her own time, seeming quite neutral with the taste even if she hadn't even heated them up in the first place. She was probably used to this as it were.

_"Baby's in Reno with the vitamin D  
Got a couple of couches sleep on the love seat  
Someone keeps sayin I'm insane to complain  
About a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt"_

Next, it flashed to Eva at the door, finally about to probably leave for work except she sat leaned against the wall, grabbing a lighter and something else, she flicked on the lighter, and brought exactly what it had been she'd lit up to her mouth. It was a blunt, quite evidently, and she only continued to loosen her shoulders as she leaned further against the wall, quite enjoying herself.

_"Don't believe everything that you breathe  
You get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve  
So shave your face with some mace in the dark  
Savin' all your food stamps and burnin' down the trailer park"_

It flickered to a moment later when she'd finished, and breathing the last puff of smoke from her mouth, she collected her combat boots and went to pulling them on her feet in a now drugged struggle that only increased when she tried to tie the laces. She'd finally finished with this, and the last thing to do—she slung a rifle that had been set against the door around her shoulder, and stepped out in the mid-morning air.

_"Yo, cut it."_

She began towards her destination, and the music blared probably the loudest it's been as if trying to enunciate a point as it went on with it's lyrics.

_"Soy un perdedor  
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?  
(Double-barrel buckshot)"_

She passed by many people on her way to where it was that she was headed, most of them casting a spare glance of disdain her way, to which she only responded by stretching a bright smile across her face that could make the Cheshire Cat jealous. She was well known around the city, it was really very difficult for her to not be noticed. She was a Halfling, or rather, that's what they liked to call her, her eyes and teeth made it very clear; her radiation had obviously caused her some further changes since her admission to the city of Ostham, and near to none couldn't say they didn't find it somewhat frightening. They looked at her like she was going to turn feral any second, or decide to shoot them up.

_"Soy un perdedor  
I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?"_

"Whoever gave THAT girl a gun has got to be out of their minds…" She'd heard someone say once, she remembered blankly as she came up to one of the sniper towers as the music began to fade once more. Ferals were few and far between these days, but it didn't mean they didn't need to watch the city walls, she noted quite hypocritically as she made her way up the stairs to her post. She hadn't seen Cadogan on her way in, so maybe he didn't know she was late this time… 'One can only hope…' she thought to herself, setting back up her chair that had gotten knocked over the day before in her hurry to leave. She pulled a cola soda from a six pack and cracked it open, taking a swig and seating herself on the chair, setting up her rig to start shooting. She looked over the edge to see only a few scratching at the walls. Not irradiated terribly, like some of the other she'd seen before; they might've just been infected by the looks of it.

"Yep… got a few biters… should be easy to pick off…" She said under her breath, and it was about this time that it exited into play mode; the cutscenes were done, and it was time for the player to actually get to the game, and what better way than to show them how to shoot? The player was obviously a veteran at the game, as the diseased were offed in a quick success...

Tamora and Vanellope seemed to be enjoying the game thus far, apparently even a girl programmed to be nine years old had more of a stomach for horror than either Ralph or Felix, who both looked a little perturbed at the idea of all this happening. Ralph may be programmed to be a Wrecker, and sure, Felix could even die in his own game, but it wasn't graphic like the screams and quick slides of the mutated infected were. Felix had never seen a creature so horrible, and immediately decided no matter the charm of the above ground world, and it's graphics that could well match Hero's Duty, he would not be visiting any time soon… unless maybe the infected weren't as aggressive as cybugs. It would have been relatively sad though if they did have further programming than to destroy anything they can, because they would be stuck looking like they did. Lord only knows what Felix was thinking about her drug use, or rather, if he'd noticed it at all.

"I like it!" Vanellope exclaimed, Calhoun nodding her head in agreement. The sergeant could admit, she wouldn't have had the girl pegged as coming from such a game by how she'd acted on their first meeting, bounding on over and friendly like only a few she'd met in her time. Most characters to come from such games were bitter and jaded, and it took herself a while to overcome those traits herself, but she was still just as biting as ever. This would probably never change. Of course, Eva did say she was the first on the system, so she would have had time to overcome herself as well.

"Don't you think it's a bit much?" Felix offered, slightly uncomfortable with letting Vanellope watch it after seeing how bad it really was, and only potentially to get worse, seeing as the game was very calm now compared to how it had been just earlier. "Ralph, it's a bit much isn't it?"

Ralph wasn't exactly wanting to be the one to have to tear Vanellope away from the screen and back to Sugar Rush, though he himself was a little off-put by the thoughts of what was going to be coming up, he somewhat want to see where the story went. He cast a glance over to his game brother, an eyebrow raised. He was obviously looking for his help here, but he was going to do it by throwing him under the bus. He only settled for shrugging, but not before looking back to Eva shooting down more ferals. "I kinda want to see what happens…" They never got the chance to watch the other games back in the arcade… they were always tied down to their own during open hours. This was actually kind of nice… and there were the other game characters to watch it with too; it was like a theater!

Meanwhile the handyman sighed once more in the background, obviously fighting a losing battle.

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Aw, poor Felix. :C I almost feel bad. Almost.

SO! Here's the lead way for Dust Bowl! Tell me what you think about it. (Also, no, the whole story isn't going to be about this game, but like I've said before a lot of it's integrity is going to be made up with it. Cause, I had to be a rebel and couldn't just use an already established character, nooo… I made an entire game to center around mine, and I thought… why not write it all out?) So yeah. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it.


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